BASIX and Section J Sign Off

In recent times we have seen a spike in requests to sign off the BASIX and Section J aspects of construction at the Occupation Certificate stage. This is related to an increase in diligence in all aspects of documentation arising from the State Government’s campaign to return confidence into the building industry.

We expect to be asked to prepare the sign off for projects we are already involved with. But what surprises us is the number of projects we are asked to sign off where the original BASIX or Section J assessment were done by others. Our first response is to refer the client back to the original consultant. In most cases this turns out to be not possible as the original consultant is un-contactable or refuses to do sign offs.

So, the take home message is to check, whichever consultant you propose to go with, that will they help at the sign-off at OC stage?

The sign-off at OC should be a straightforward procedure but if it is left to the last minute, it can be daunting and potentially very difficult to achieve.

For Section J, ask your consultant for a checklist before construction starts so it is easy to keep on track. In addition, schedule a kick off meeting. The meeting may include the site project manager and contract administrator depending on the project’s management structure. The purpose of the meeting is to go through the Section J report and identify critical issues with the site staff. It will also look at the best method of demonstrating compliance at OC which can avoid problems at the end of the project.

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